Residents of the 738-unit 444 Park Apartments in Richmond Heights stood before City Council on Tuesday and described a complex still crumbling around them — black mold in the buildings, roaches inside units, a balcony reattached with zip ties, and elevators that simply don't work. Despite a court-ordered receivership installed six months ago to stabilize the property, tenants say the conditions that made headlines for years haven't meaningfully improved.
The complex at 444 Park East Drive opened in 1968 and has long struggled with maintenance failures, but the scale of dysfunction described this week was striking. As reported by Cleveland.com, the property has 12 elevators across its four buildings, but only two were working as of this week. Ohio regulators, who oversee elevator operation statewide, ordered all of the complex's elevators shut off in 2025 over safety concerns, and Cleveland.com reports the units are old and difficult to maintain because replacement parts are hard to find.
Tenant Clarice Ross, who moved into 444 Park in July 2025 and cares for three children, told the outlet she went days without heat during a cold winter and eventually stopped paying rent because of it. She also said her balcony fell off and had to be reattached with zip ties. Other residents described going three weeks without lighting in their apartment, break-ins targeting cars in the parking lot, and no functioning lights in the lot itself, according to the same report.
A Receivership Meant to Fix Things, Tenants Say It Hasn't
In March 2026, 444 Park was placed into court-ordered receivership under Guggenheim Realty, a move intended to stabilize the property after years of alleged owner neglect, according to a Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless post. Guggenheim Realty then hired Shapiro Management to run daily operations, per Cleveland.com's reporting. Tenants have continued to complain about mold, roaches, and elevator problems.
Residents have protested conditions at the complex, with representatives of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless involved.
At Tuesday's meeting, residents demanded a moratorium on evictions until their concerns are reasonably addressed, functioning parking-lot lighting, a common-area mold remediation plan within 30 days, pest control, and a transparent HVAC repair plan within the same 30-day window, according to Cleveland.com. Siobhan Adams, who addressed the council about conditions at the complex, said the city has ignored 444 Park residents. Josiah Quarles, another speaker, said eviction is a major pathway into homelessness.
City Officials Point to Legal Limits
City prosecutor Michael Cicero told residents he prosecuted former 444 Park owners Baruch Rapaport and Shneur Plotkin, two New York men, this year; the pair face tens of thousands of dollars in fines and potential jail time, Cleveland.com reported. Law Director Todd Hunt said Guggenheim must correct violations before the court sells the property so Fannie Mae can recover its loan money. Cicero advised residents to take their concerns about the receiver and management company to federal court.
Mayor Kim Thomas and the rest of the council instructed Cicero and Hunt to investigate the complaints and attempt to resolve them, according to the same report. Housing code violations and municipal misdemeanor charges originating in Richmond Heights are adjudicated through the Lyndhurst Municipal Court, per the Ohio Revised Code. Cleveland.com reported that the property received city adjudication letters in September 2022 and again in January 2023 requiring code violations to be fixed; more than 90 violations were logged at one point, and 18 remain outstanding.
The complex's troubles are not new. Richmond Heights Building Commissioner Rudy Hilliard told City Council in August 2025 that inspectors were tracking ongoing hot water outages and elevator breakdowns at 444 Park, where four buildings were relying on single operational elevators at the time, according to Richmond Heights City Council meeting minutes. In January 2024, residents endured weeks of sub-zero temperatures without indoor heating, an ordeal that drew regional coverage and emergency municipal code inspections, as reported by WKYC.
Safety and Security Concerns Linger
Cleveland.com reported that crime within 444 Park Apartments has decreased, even as residents continue to press for better lighting and security around the property. The complex has drawn scrutiny before over violence: in March 2025, 25-year-old Mariah Sanders was fatally shot outside the complex, triggering a multi-agency SWAT response and a regional manhunt, according to WKYC's coverage at the time, which Hoodline also reported in its piece on the fatal Richmond Heights shooting.
The same council meeting where tenants aired their grievances also saw members formally approve an increased penalty for owners of at-large attacking dogs, passing the measure by a 6-0 vote with member Daniel Ursu absent. Under the new rule, an owner whose dog attacks while at-large faces a first-degree misdemeanor, up to $1,000 in fines and up to six months in jail, and a judge may order restitution for a victim's injuries; a lesser, minor misdemeanor carries a fine of up to $150 with no jail time. The ordinance follows Ohio House Bill 247, which took effect in March 2026 and updated statewide definitions and penalty thresholds for nuisance, dangerous and vicious dogs. Rental terms at 444 Park already require tenant pets to be spayed or neutered, licensed, and free of certain restricted breeds, according to listings on ApartmentRatings, though residents' complaints this week centered on loose animals and unlit grounds rather than the pet policy itself.
